School Custodian Arrested On School Grounds With Loaded Gun, Police Say

TOWN OF WALLKILL, NY — A series of bad decisions led to the arrest of a school employee on an Orange County high school campus.

The Town of Wallkill Police Department says that around 3:07 a.m. on Thursday, an officer stopped a vehicle on the grounds of Middletown High School.

After determining that the driver, later identified as 39-year-old Ralph Sabater, of the Town of Wallkill, was under the influence of a substance, the officer arrested the driver.

A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a loaded Taurus GC3, a 9mm caliber handgun.

Sabater, who works as a custodian in the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, criminal possession of a firearm in a sensitive location, driving while ability impaired by drugs, and vehicle/traffic violations. He is scheduled to appear in the Town of Wallkill Court on March 18.